


Without You, My Tears Won't Dry

by snowzone5



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mileven, NOT MadWheeler, Soulmates, Triple AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-22 14:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21303632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowzone5/pseuds/snowzone5
Summary: Max and Mike are the loneliest people in Hawkins Middle. Mike asks her to the Snowball. They end up together.And then something happens that Mike can't explain, but changes his life forever.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 20
Kudos: 35





	1. Only The Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is MadWheeler, but the next chapter and the story is not. 
> 
> This is a triple AU. You'll see why in a chapter or two.
> 
> This one may have more fluff than usual

**** Max didn’t think she was the loneliest person at Hawkins Middle. The loneliest girl, maybe. But the loneliest person, that award would go to Mike Wheeler. She could see it in his face, it was always there, even when talking to his friends. It was always just underneath the look he put on for his friends.

She kind of felt sorry for him. She knew his nickname, she had one too, but she knew she could get a boyfriend if she wanted to. Mike on the other hand didn’t seem to have much of a chance.

She’d heard about the fiasco he went through last year asking a few girls to the Snowball. There were no takers. A few insults, but no takers.

She didn’t have that much interest in Mike. She was more interested in Lucas, but he wouldn’t give her the time of day. She got the distinct impression that he didn’t like her at all. Didn’t like her looks, didn’t like her attitude. 

Didn’t.

Like.

Her.

Period.

She was the  _ Red Headed Bitch _ . 

She shrugged it off. She knew that Dustin liked her but she just wasn’t into him. He was smart and all, and she really liked smart. But… not Dustin.  _ I mean, I kind of like Mike, but I don’t think he’s into bitchy red heads.  _ And she wore that title proudly.

The second she sat down at the Party table, Lucas got up and said, “I’m going to shoot some hoops. You coming Dustin?”

Dustin and Lucas were best friends. Mike was best friends with all of them, but Lucas and Dustin seemed to have a bond that was a little closer. 

Just as well, she didn’t feel like ignoring Lucas’s death stare anyway. He’d given her that the minute that Mike said she was the Zoomer of the party.

“Zoomer my ass, that’s not even a real thing.”

“It could be.” Mike said.

Lucas left Mike’s basement that night. Mike shrugged and looked at Max. “He’ll come around. I’m the party leader, the Paladin. I say you are in the Party.”

“It’s it a democracy?” Max said, “That’s what Dustin is always saying.”

Mike had looked down. “Yeah, you can still hang out with us if you like. I’ll work on Lucas. Dustin and Will would be fine with it I know.”

“What’s he got against me anyway?”

“I don’t know.” Mike said, then smiled at her, “Maybe he’s got a crush on you?”

She had rolled her eyes. “He’s got a funny way of showing it.”

Mike had shrugged. “Guys are funny that way.”

“Guys are funny in a lot of ways. Some of them not so funny.”

Mike had laughed. “I don’t really know why he acts that way when you are around. I mean, you’re cool. You can skateboard and none of the rest of us can. And you are smart too. You use words we’ve never even heard of.”

“Have you guys heard of a dictionary?”

“Duh, but it’s not like we read it.”

“You should try it sometime. I’m probably not the only girl you’ll run into that reads a dictionary.”

“Well, I’ll let you know when that happens. With my luck, you’ll be old and grey before I run into a girl that actually reads the dictionary on purpose.”

Max had smiled at him. He turned red, “I mean it Max, I don’t know about Lucas. It’s not like you aren’t pretty. Uh, I mean, um.”

“Christ Mike try not to trip over yourself complimenting me.”

“Sorry Max, I didn’t want to get that personal.”

Max remembered thinking.  _ Mike thinks I’m pretty. _ She felt kind of funny inside. That was the first indication she’d had from  _ anybody _ that they thought she was pretty. Sometimes the flaming red hair did  _ not _ work in her favour. 

Sometimes it did.

Mike and Max sat in silence for a few minutes. They heard a loud crash. A step ladder had fallen over, someone was trying to put up the Snowball ‘84 banner.

Mike snorted.

Max used that as her opportunity. “So who are you taking to the Snowball this year?” She knew full well that he hadn’t gone last year.

“Yeah right. I’m avoiding total humiliation this year by not asking anybody. Last year nobody wanted to go to the Snowball with Frogface, and I’m going to take the giant leap and assume nobody wants to this year. What about you. I’m guessing Lucas didn’t ask, and you turned down Dustin.”

Max felt sorry for Mike at first, then realized she was in the same boat as he was. “Haven’t you heard? Nobody even bothers asking the Red Headed Bitch to  _ anything. _ ”

“I don’t think you are a red headed bitch.”

“You and my mom are the only ones. Besides, I’m not putting on a dress for anybody.”

Mike looked down. “Oh, right. I forgot.”

_ Wait! Was Mike about to ask her to the Snowball? _ She didn’t know what to say if he asked. Suddenly she felt a little panic. What would she say if he asked?

She didn’t have to think about it very long.

_ If he asks, I’ll say  _ yes _ . I’m sure after last year he’s not going to ask. Not me for sure. _

Mike seemed to be struggling with something. He wouldn’t look at her, and he was red faced. He started fidgeting with his hands.

“Would the red headed bitch like to go to the Snowball with Frogface?”

“Are you serious Mike?”

“Shit, sorry I asked,” His face turned a deep crimson as if he had been shot down by a girl he was sure just  _ might _ say yes.

“ _ I’m _ serious Mike, are  _ you. _ Because if you are, then the answer is yes.”

“Really?” Mike looked incredulous that she’d actually been agreed. Max felt even more sorry for him.

“Two conditions Mike.”

“Um, uh, ok.”

“One. Slow dances only and I’m not wearing a dress.”

“And  _ two _ ?”

“You aren’t feeling me up after the Snowball, so get that shit out of your head right now.”

“Geez, Max, I wasn’t even thinking of that.”

Max felt bad that she’d had to say it, she knew Mike had no experience with girls, and that he was unlikely to get it with her. And that he was just too nice a guy to even try it.

Still, she felt bad giving him the warning.

  
  


XXXXX

“You didn’t have to dress up for me.” Max said, her arms around Mike’s neck, his hands on her waist.

“I didn’t, I dressed up for my mom.” Max giggled.

“You made the mistake of saying you were taking a girl to the dance.”

“I think the mistake I made was closer to  _ you’re going to a dance?” _

Max outright laughed. “Mike, why is your hair all a mess?”

“Trying something different. I got tired of trying to keep my hair straight in that stupid hair cut. My mom really likes it now.”

“It looks… sexy. All rockstarish or something.”

They both turned red. Mike said, “Maybe, but you are my only groupie.”

“In your dreams Mike.”

Mike nodded, falling silent.

“Mike, I said you couldn’t feel me up after the Snowball. I didn’t say you couldn’t kiss me.”

Mike didn’t even hesitate, he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. Her butterflies exploded, she grabbed his hand and took him to the bleachers behind the curtains where nobody could see them.

They kissed. Deeply at times, but Mike never let his hands wander.

Finally Max was getting a little too excited and stopped. She pulled back from his mouth and said breathless, “Oh my God. You are a really good kisser. I mean, I haven’t kissed a lot of boys, but you are by far the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

“You are my first kiss. Max. So I have nothing to compare it to. But it was a lot of fun. Um, thanks for going with me.”

“Well I’m sorry the Red Headed Bitch had to be your first kiss, but let me tell you right now. The girls in Hawkins do  _ not _ know what they are missing. I hate to let anyone else kiss you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“What?”

“If he Red Headed Bitch went out with the Frogface, she could kiss him all she wanted. We’ll be the talk of Hawkins Middle, but neither one of us would be lonely anymore.”

Max’s face softened, she almost let a tear spill out.  _ He’s asking me to be his girlfriend. _

“Ok Mike.”

“I won’t hurt you Max. I promise.”

She smiled at him and gave him a soft kiss. 

She was Mike Wheeler’s girlfriend and she couldn’t be happier.


	2. The New Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. :)

**** Mike felt the gentle curve of her body against him. Her head was laying on his chest, her breathing soft and even. He smiled to himself, at peace.

Suddenly it felt like an ice pick had hit him right between the eyes. A searing bright white light pierced his skull. His mouth felt dry, he didn’t have enough moisture in his mouth to swallow.

He held his hands the side of his head in a vain attempt to keep his head from splitting or cracking wide open through sheer pain.

It passed.

=====

She sighed. She was snuggled up against him, his comforting arm around her waist. His deep breathing reassuring her that he was hers and no other. She smiled, it was perfect.

She rolled over, in excruciating pain. The worse cramps she’d ever endured. But different. She could feel her toes curl up in pain as she folded herself into a tight fetal position.

Holding her stomach was a futile attempt to ease the pain, but she couldn’t think of anything else to do.

It passed.

=====

He sat up. It was pitch black. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel another presence on the bed.

“Who are you?” he said.

“Who are  _ you?”  _ The reply snapped back. It was a girl.

=====

There was a sudden thrashing about and she crawled quickly, scared, to the end of the bed. There was no light, she couldn’t see a thing. But she was wary of the whatever had done the thrashing.

“Who are you?” A voice said.

“Who are  _ you?” _ She snapped back, not giving anything away.

“Um, I’m Mike.” It was the gentlest voice she’d ever heard. It put her at ease immediately.

“I”m El.”

“Um, El, I have a killer headache, and I’m too tired… . I think the power has gone out, I’ll go out to the sofa to sleep. You can stay here. We can figure this out tomorrow. Ok?”

As soon as he’d said that, she realized her stomach cramps were gone and that she was incredibly sleepy. 

“Ok, Mike.”

She felt a movement and the bed shift as he got out. She got down underneath the covers, it was cold even under the covers and she started shivering.

She heard a loud thump.

“Arggh,” she heard someone say through gritted teeth, obviously in intense pain.

“What is it?”

“Stubbed my toe. Power has gone out, all over town by the looks of it. No power, no heat, it’s freezing out in the living room. Do you mind if I get back under the covers? I promise I won’t try anything.”

He sounded funny, it took a moment to realize that his teeth were chattering. She knew that sound all too well.

“Ok.”

She felt the bed shift again and the cool air of the room waft over her body making her shiver again.

=====

Even when Mike got back under the blankets he was still cold. He started shivering again. The slight reprieve of warmth now totally gone.

“Um, I think we were sleeping close to share body heat. I uh, um, can’t ask you but…”

He felt the rustling as she snuggled up close to him. “Better?” 

“Much.”

“Better for me too.”

“Night, El.”

“Night, Mike.”

XXXXX

  
  


Mike woke again for the second time in the strange bed. He could feel her body next to his, sharing in the comforting warmth.

His stirring woke her up.

She sat up and looked over at him.

He was not prepared.

He was  _ not _ prepared for how pretty she was. Her eyes were the clearest, golden brown he’d ever seen. Her extremely short hair was cute. Her nose even cuter She was wearing loose pajama’s but they couldn’t hide her curves. She looked to be about twenty, maybe twenty-five. He couldn’t tell, she seemed to get older or younger every time he saw her at a different every angle.

_ Wait a sec! What’s going on. The last thing I remember was Max sleeping against my shoulder, sitting on the sofa in my basement. Where was Max? Who is El? _

=====

El hated to leave the warmth of his body, but she was woken up out of a half sleep by his stirring.

She sat up and looked down over at him.

She was not ready for what she saw. His wild hair, high cheek bones, full lips, Deep soulful eyes. She had to stop herself from leaning over and kissing him. She didn’t know why she was even thinking about doing that. It felt like it would be the most natural thing in the world. He looked to be about her age, maybe a little older.

_ This is not my room at the cabin! Where am I? The last thing I remember was writing in my diary. _

=====

  
“I’ll make us some coffee. It looks like the power is back on.” He got up and grabbed a housecoat he saw draped over a chair. He put it on and padded out to the kitchen, limping a little.

He rummaged around until he found everything he needed. “The next sound you hear will be me grinding beans.” He called back to the bedroom.

=====

No sooner had he said that, then she heard the sound of an awful grinding.  _ I’m sure he’s not doing that right. _

She grabbed her bathrobe, and went out to the kitchen. She didn’t recognize it. She hadn’t recognized the bedroom either.

“We have a problem.” She said and sat down at a cozy breakfast nook.

“You’re telling me.” He walked around the counter to sit across from her. 

She happened to be looking down at his foot and her eyes went wide. “I think that purplish black thing on your foot used to be a toe.”

“It was last night, I don’t know what it’s going to turn out to be today. Hurts like hell.”

“You want me to get some ice for it?”

“No that ok. Nothing you can do for it.”

“Really, we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t fix a broken toe.”

He laughed. “As if. We still can’t put a man on the moon.”

She rolled her eyes, “You aren’t one of those conspiracy nuts are you? Thinking the first moon landing was faked?”

“Uh,  _ what _ first moon landing? Where I come from we haven’t landed on the moon. We are too busy firing rockets at other countries to try to get one into space.” 

“I think you may have stubbed your head, not your toe. We landed on the moon in ‘69. I kind of took up astronomy and and interest in space after dad told me about Sara..”

“Well, I  _ did _ have a splitting headache last night. But I’m pretty sure if we’d landed on the moon there might have been something on the news about it. Can’t say I’ve ever seen in… and… oh, you are serious… now it makes me think we really  _ do _ have a problem.”

“I was home schooled, but I remember reading about it in a science textbook. Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you don’t know about cell phones.”

“What’s a cell phone? Mike said.  _ Uh, I wonder if she’s an escapee from the Hawkins Psychiatric Center? She starting to say really weird things. Moonlanding? Cell phones? _

He was going to be very careful what he said next.

=====

El was a little scared, it sounded like he might have escaped from the nuthouse in Kerley. Or he had lived a very shelter life. Like hers but a lot more sheltered.

Or he had been living under a rock.

On a hunch she got up and went back into the bedroom. She saw his Nokia on his night stand, and hers on the matching night stand.

_ On my side of the bed _ . She smiled to herself.  _ My side of the bed we share. _

She stopped smiling.  _ We won’t be sharing it if he needs to be returned to Kerley, or whatever, Kerley’s psychiatric hospital was shut down in eighty-seven I think. _

She walked back to the breakfast nook. Place his Nokia cell phone in front of him.

“That’s your cell phone.” She held up hers. “This is mine.”

“Looks like a phone. I’ll give you that.”

El thumbed through the address list on her phone.  _ Well  _ this _ phone, it’s a lot nicer than the one I had at the cabin. _

She couldn’t find Mike’s name. But she did see an entry for  _ Paladin. _

She smiled, that’s a D&D thing, I think Dustin mentioned it a few times, that they didn’t have one. She pressed the call key.

=====

The other cell phone thing rang, Mike looked at it and then at her.

“A number came up, it says  _ 11  _ is calling.” He picked it up, held it to his hear.

He heard El’s voice on the phone he'd just picked up, a split second after she said it into her phone, “This is a cell phone and you just answered yours.” 

“Oh shit. Oh shit. I might be in more trouble than you are.”

She sat down across from her again.

“Mike, if you are in trouble, I probably am too. We’ll figure it out together. Ok?

“Ok.”


	3. Exploring

**** “After this coffee, I need to have a shower. You were lying beside a stinky girl last night.”

“Actually I was sitting up with Max sleeping on my shoulder last night.”

“Max? Oh sorry, I didn’t know.”  _ MIke couldn’t possibly have known Max. _

“What? No, I mean, Max as in Maxine.”

“But nobody calls her that.” They both said at the same time smiling at each other.

Mike looked down, “Max is my girlfriend, or she was where I come from, The Land of No Cell Phones. What’s does the  _ cell _ part even mean anyway?”

She shrugged. It was her turn to look down.  _ He has a girlfriend. Wait, no, Max is going out with Lucas. _

“I think we need to sit down and gather our thoughts, figure out what we know.”

“I have the sneaking suspicious that what we know is a short list.”

El frowned, “You may be right.”

  
  


XXXXX

The only plusses El could think of with having hair this short was that it took no time to dry, and she saved on expensive hair appointments.

She pressed her lips together.  _ The downside is no boyfriend at twenty years old. El you’ve  _ never _ kissed a boy. Mike here is probably taken. Maybe not by Max, but by somebody. Nobody who looks like that is single for very long. _

That thought hurt her the most. She was obviously not pretty enough to be  _ anybody’s  _ girlfriend.

“Shit.”

“You ok?” She heard Mike calling from the kitchen, his voice getting louder as he rushed into the room.

El barely had time to cover herself with the bathrobe. Enough of herself anyway.

Mike clamped his hand over his eyes looked up and turned around.

“Sorry, El. I thought you were in trouble.”

El positively glowed at his concern.

=====

Mike had found a pad and pencil, and was creating three columns for El and he to work though.

He heard “Shit” from the bedroom and got up quickly saying. “You ok?”

Two things struck him right away, one, that she had barely enough time to cover herself when he’d rushed into the room.

And two, the curves she didn’t cover were nice. Her body was lithe, toned, and sexy as all get out. He slapped his hand over his eyes and turned around.

He apologized. Felt a full body flush and walked out of the room.

=====

Mike was sitting at the breakfast nook when El came out. Plaid shirt, jumper, wool socks.  _ Very sexy El. It’s no wonder you had to turn down all the boys.  _ She grimaced to herself.

“So I made three columns on this pad.” Mike showed her. “One for  _ What El Knows,  _ one for  _ What Mike Knows _ and one for  _ What is fact. _ In my column I put my name, Mike Wheeler. In your column I only put  _ El. _ I don’t know your last name.”

“Hopper.” El told him.

“As in chief Hopper’s daughter? Uh, I only know about Sara, she used to hang out with us. Dustin kind of liked her, but the Chief didn’t like that at all."

“I am adopted. Mike, Sara died when she was seven years old.”

She watched as Mike hung his head. “Shit. I’m in so much trouble.”

“Let’s start off small Mike. We can handle the big things later. Let’s look around the apartment. I think we both live here, it’s... “ El took a deep breath. “It’s only one bedroom, so we were sharing that bad.”

“I figured that out El. I just don’t know why.”

El did not even want to speculate to herself. “I’ll search the bedroom, and bathroom, you search the living room and kitchen.

El got up from the table and went back into the bedroom.  _ What is going on here? I wonder if this is Upside Down related? It doesn’t  _ feel _ like that place. To be honest, I think Mike is probably an incredibly nice guy, I’m desperate, but I know I wouldn’t just shack up with anybody. Makes me wonder what our  _ other selves? _ What they were doing together. _

She rummaged around her nightstand, the one that had the cell phone on it. She opened the drawer. She saw a pink diary. It didn’t look familiar to her but she recognized it for what it was.

The key was in it. She unlocked it and opened to the first page. It was her own handwriting. 

She read the first line and had to stop,: “ _ I’m so lonely.”  _

She pressed her lips together. This El must have been twelve or thirteen when she wrote this. Out of curiosity, El went over to Mike’s side of the bed. She smiled ot herself again when she thought of sharing the bed with him. She checked the drawer of his nightstand. There was a leather journal in it. She took a quick peak at the first page.

_ “I’m all alone. _ ”

El was beginning to think that that Mike and El belonged together.

She did some more searching in a closet. 

And then she found it.

=====

“El, can you come out here?”

He was holding two framed photos, he passed one to El and said, “Do you recognize anybody in that photo.”

El took a look, “That’s the Party.”

“Yeah, everyone is in it.” Mike was looking down.

“What’s wrong Mike.”

“Max is holding Lucas’s hand. Oh, and by the way we are still in Hawkins.”

“How do you know?”

“Look out the window.”

El did so and saw the Starcourt Mall easily within walking distance. “There’s a Hawkins phonebook by the phone. We can look up who might still be here.

Mike looked up. “Max is not my girlfriend.”

=====

_ Well, boo hoo MIke. I never had a boyfriend so screw you.  _ She immediately felt ashamed of herself. She knew what the problem was.

“And then there’s this.” Mike showed her the other framed photo.

It was the two of them. “We look happy… and…”

“In love.” They both said at the same time. They both turned red and avoided each other’s eyes.

El handed him a gilded folder. “Look at it, Mike.”

Mike took it from her, keep his eyes on it. He opened it up.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. The evidence is all over this apartment.” He looked at the marriage certificate.

“I’m Mrs. El Wheeler.” She held up her hand, the one with the wedding band on it. “You have one too Mike.”

Mike nodded slowly, looking at his left hand.

=====

_ Well, shit.  _ Mike thought. _I'm_ _ friggin’ married. Not only that but it’s to a girl I don’t even know.  _

“So, Mike. You won’t be sleeping in the same bed as I am tonight. I-”

“Obviously. We don’t know each other. I know everything here tells a different story, but  _ we _ know we don’t love each other.” Mike watched her face fall a bit, then she looked like she was pissed off.

“What I was  _ going  _ to say, is that it’s my time of the month. I don’t feel like sharing the bed with someone I don’t know. Or love.”  _ Asshole. _

“I get it El. I’ll take the couch until I can find a new place.”

She walked away.

=====

_ It stung more than El thought possible when Mike said they didn’t love each other.  _

She had to turn away. 

When she got to the bedroom, she threw herself on the bed and cried.  _ Just like a twelve year old would. But now, you know what El? You’re twenty something here, and you have no one. You are  _ still _ lonely and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. I need to see my dad. _

=====

El came back out after a few minutes. Her eyes looked a little puffy, like she’d been crying.  _ Hormones.  _ He thought.  _ She did say it was her time of the month. _

“I’m going to see my dad. I, don’t drive. I saw car keys in a bowl by the door. Can you drive me? Oh, before we go. I see we have an Encyc-encyc-”

Mike couldn’t figure out why she was having a hard time pronouncing it but he finished for her. “Encyclopedia Britannica.”

"Yes, I’m going to look up the moon landing.”

She grabbed the volume she was looking for from the bottom of a big bookshelf. He looked at the other books.

He froze when he saw a row of dictionaries.  _ Ok, that’s weird. _

“Ah, ha!” He heard the vindication in her voice. Then right after, “Oh…” it trailed off.

“ _ Ah ha _ as in you found an entry for a,” he airquoted, “ _ moon landing. _ What’s the  _ oh _ for?”

“For someone who didn’t know what a cell phone was… be careful MIke. I’m bitchy today.” She gave him what could have been a sweet smile, or a deadly one. He didn’t know which. He wasn't going to try and find out either. 

“This can’t be right, it’s says 1975. The moon landing was 1969.”

“So we were  _ both _ wrong?”

“Mike?” Her voice sounded so small, he wanted to rush over and give her a hug. “What’s going on?”

=====

El felt herself spiraling into despair.

“We aren’t where we are supposed to be Mike.”  _ He almost looks like he wants to hug me. _

“You can look at it this way…” he said, trying to sound hopeful, “maybe we are  _ exactly _ where we are supposed to be?”

_ But I don’t want to be alone. Not here. _

=====

“Ok, let me drive you to the police station, I’ll go see if I can find Dustin. If anybody would understand what’s happening to us… or at least offer us a theory, it would be Dustin. Do you agree?”

El nodded her head.

“Let’s go.”


	4. Promises

**** Mike knocked on Dustin’s door. He doubted that Dustin lived here anymore, but his mom might still.

A pretty girl with long dark hair answered the door.

“Hi Mike!” She stuck her head out the door and looked back and forth, “Where’s El?”

“Uh, she’s at the police station.”

“Oh. Everything ok? You two ok?

Mike shrugged. She shrugged and then collided with him in a warm hug.

“Um, I think I have the wrong house. I was looking for Claudia Henderson?”

“Oh.” The girl looked disappointed. “I was sure you were here to see Dustin.”

“Uh, actually I am. Um…”

“Ok, Mike you’re acting weird. Dustin is out back at the root cellar.”

“Root cellar?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why are all of my Dusty-bun’s friends so weird?”

_ This must be Dustin’s girlfriend.  _ He took a quick glance down at her left hand and saw a ring.  _ Wife? _ He had no idea who she was.

She grabbed his hand, “C’mon, I’ll announce you, genius at work you know, I don’t want him frying himself with too much current because you startled him.”

She led him behind the house and saw the root cellar right away.  _ Jeez I can’t even remember if Dustin’s house had one of those or not. I’m losin’ it. _

She pushed a button on an intercom outside on a poll. “Dusty-bun! Mike is here to see you.”

Mike expected the crackle of a bad drive-in speaker, but heard instead heard in a crystal clear voice. “Send him on down Suzie-poo.”

Mike smiled inside.  _ Dustin has found someone he loves.  _ He could hear it in their voices.

“Go on down, remind Dustin not to sneak you two a beer. Beer and electricity don’t mix.”

Mike laughed, but stopped when he saw the look on her face. “I’m serious Mike, I’m not punching in the code to that door until you promise.”

“I promise… Suzie.”

“Good, I know you won’t break your promise.” She punched in the code. It seemed impossible long but her fingers flew over the keypad like she’d done it a million times.

The door buzzed, she opened it and said, “Remember!”

Mike nodded and headed down the stairs.

“Hey Mike,” he could see Dustin bent over a workbench soldering onto a circuit board.

“To what do I owe this visit to?”

“I have questions. Lots of questions. You were always better at science than me. At least where I came from.”

“ _ Where I came from? _ What are you talking about Mike?”

Mike held up his  _ cell _ phone. “Do you know what this is?”

Dustin smiled. “Is this a trick question? Don’t you know?”

“I didn’t until El told me this morning.”

Dustin looked on either side of Mike like he was trying to see who was behind him. “Speaking of… where is our Eleven.”

“Our eleven what?”

“You ok Mike? You are talking some weird shit here.”

“I woke up in bed with El in the middle of the night.”

“Ok.”

“I went to sleep last night in my parents house with Max falling asleep on my shoulder. Down in the basement on the sofa were we used to hang out.”

“Ah, shit Mike. That’s why El isn’t here. You and max aren't having an affair are you. That will break El’s heart. She doesn’t deserve that. I knew there was a reason she wasn’t with you. What the hell happened. Jesus, if Lucas finds out, he’ll kick the shit out of you.”

Mike shook his head. “It’s not that. Where I come from, Max is my girlfriend.”

“You are making no sense whatsoever.  _ Where you come from? _ ”

“It’s the same place where I don’t know about cell phones. And there was no moon landing.”

“Ok, that moon landing was questionable at best, just look at the videos, but Mike the second moon landing was legit. It was two years later in ‘77”

“El told me that where she came from the moon landing was in 1969.” 

“Where  _ she _ comes from. Uh, you aren’t from Kerley are you, because I’m starting to get a little worried.”

“That’s why I’m here Dustin. I need help figuring out what’s going on.”

“But are you and El… together?”

Mike shrugged. His cell phone rang. “It says  _ 11 calling.” _

“Yeah, El, answer it Mike.”

Mike held it to his ear. He heard a girl crying. It was El, and her heart sounded torn apart. Mike managed to hear her asking to meet them at his parent’s place.

“I have to meet El at my parent’s place.”

“You mean where they used to live right?”

Mike looked at him and shrugged, “I guess so. I don’t think I know anything anymore.”

“You drove here? I’ll drive you to your parent's place. I’m afraid there might not be any break pedals where you come from. I’ll go get Suzie.”

Mike gave him a weak smile.

  
  


XXXXX

Dustin parked in the driveway behind another car. A Blazer pulled in behind them. El got out, and the Chief yelled out, “Later Wheelers, and you to Henderson. Looks like you’re getting the band back together.” He backed out, spinning his wheels and took off.

El didn’t look back but as soon as she saw Mike her breath hitched. “H-H-He d-doesn’t love me.” She became incohorent and raised her arms, waiting for a hug. A hug, that was obvious that she desperately needed. Mike walked into her arms. Hugged her tightly. 

It felt  _ good _ to hug her. At least give her some kind of comfort.

Dustin had gone up to knock on his parents door.

Mike’s confusion increased when he saw that it was Max who answered. She smiled at Mike and El hugging, but the smile was gone when they walked up to the step. El leading.

“Um, I guess they don’t live hear anymore.”

“You’re parents? No, They retired to Florida. Nancy went off somewhere with Steve Harrington. Dustin didn’t sound happy saying that.

“What about Holly?”

“Who’s Holly?” Max asked.

“Ah, shit.”

“What’s wrong Mike?” Dustin asked.

“Holly is… was my baby sister. Apparently here I don’t have one.”

=====

El wasn’t so full of her own grief that she didn’t see the tear dropping from Mike’s eye. Mike had just lost someone he loved. It’s not like she was even here, at least like her dad… was. She only existed in Mike’s memory.  _ That has to suck more than my dad not knowing me beyond being Mike’s wife. Which I’m not really, not in our hearts. It’s only paperwork right now. Nothing more. _

“El? Can I talk to you for a minute?” Max asked her.

=====

Mike watched Lucas arrange two chairs on the other side of the coffee table. He sat at one end of the sofa, and Dustin sat at the other.

Max and El came back into the room. She sat next to Lucas putting an arm around his middle and El sat in the chair beside Mike.

Lucas kept looking at the space between them. Finally he said, “Looks like the Party is back for a reunion tour.”

“Almost,” Mike said. “We are missing Will.”

“Who’s Will?” Lucas said.

“Wow, lost one of my best friends. Just like that.” Mike shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that El and I are sitting across from you guys. It feels like some kind of intervention. What are you worried about?”

“Who’s going to tell them?” Lucas looked at the others.

“I will.” Suzie said, then continued, “I don’t think  _ any _ of us have ever seen you two together when you weren’t holding hands, or smiling at each other half the time.”

Mike could see them nodding their heads.

He turned to El, “We need to tell them what we know.”

“Yeah, uh, Mike, leave out the Max part, doesn’t really serve any purpose right now. Lucas will figure it out anyway.”

“Figure what out?” Lucas said.

“Not now.”

So Mike gave them an abbreviated version of his life story.

=====

El listened to Mike’s story. It wasn’t so much the words he spoke, it was what he meant. It was the story of a smart boy, someone who was kind, gentle, but a lonely lonely soul. She knew that Mike was the kind of person, that if he was with you, he was with you for life, however, his soul would be yours forever.   
  


“That’s it in a nutshell. I knew all you guys, except for El and Suzie. And I had a little sister, Holly.” Mike stopped talking, composing himself, “ _ And,  _ no moon landing, or no cell phones.”

Dustin, laughed, “He doesn’t know what a cell phone is.”

“I know what it is  _ now _ numbnuts. El showed me this morning.” He turned to her and smiled.

“At the risk of sounding like a wasteoid.” Everyone laughed when he said that. 

“Good one,” Lucas said.

Mike glared. “I see you are all wearing watches, but I don’t see any watchfaces on them.”

“Uh, ‘cause they’re  _ digital  _ watches.”

Mike shook his head.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t have calculators in school?”

“They calculate things?”

“Is he kidding us?” Lucas said, and incredulous look on his face.

“So if I wanted to know the square roof of, oh let’s say 11.” Dustin was about to show off his calculator watch.

“3.316625, there’s a few more numbers if you want it more accurate.”

“Did you know that or just figure it out?”

“I figured it out. It’s not that hard.”

El spoke for the first time since Mike had finished his story. “If you never had a calculator, you’d be taught the original way.”

“True enough, I guess,” Dustin said. “Anyway tell us your story, El."

=====

Mike felt a sadness that would not go away for a long time. El had been much worse off than he was. He didn’t hesitate to believe what she told them had happened to her. To Mike the worst thing that had happened to her was the psychotic asshole Brenner. 

When she recounted saving her friends and getting trapped in the Upside Down, it was too much for Mike. He put his face in his hands not caring if his friends saw him crying.

He felt an arm around his shoulders, El kissed his cheek, “It’s ok Mike, I’m safe, my world was safe when I… ended up here.

Max piped up, “Ok, I’m sorry. Am I the only one not believing this? Why didn’t you ever tell us this before El?

“Because she’s not our Eleven.”

“How did she get the name Eleven then?” Mike asked.

“One day Lucas bet her she couldn’t eat frozen eggos. So she ate eleven of them in a row. Instead of calling her El, we started calling her Eleven, for short. I know, I know, it’s not shorter but that’s what we started calling her. Eventually everyone did.”

“Which part are you having a problem with, Max?” Mike was slightly pissed off that she didn’t believe El’s story, “That where she is from there’s an Upside Down, she is telekinetic, or that I don’t know what the fuck a calculator or digital watch, or cell phone is?”

“All of the above.” Max said unsympathetic.

Mike shook his head, turned to El, “I believe you El, even if you don’t have any abilities here.”

The coffee table rose a few feet off the floor.

“Do you believe  _ that?”  _ El said.

“Holy shit,” Dustin said.

“You are both telling us the truth.” Max said wide eyed.

“Friends Don’t Lie.” Mike and El said at the same time. They turned to each other. 

Mike said, “I think maybe we brought the best parts of us to… here. We still have friends.

“But you two aren’t together.” Suzie said. “That’s wrong. Dusty, do you still have that tape?”

“In safe keeping, but I burnt a CD. You don’t know what that is do you Mike?”

Mike shook his head.

“You guys were twelve or thirteen, you promised each other you would  _ always _ be together, that no matter what happened you would stick together until you worked it out. Why? Because you’ve loved each other since then. As the scientist of the group, I think you love each other in every possible universe. I believe you would have found each other in your own, it was just taking time. You were so adamant about you wanted me to tape you saying it.”

Dustin got up and put the CD in a player, and hit play.

_ “Ok guys, we’re recording. Let’s get this mushy shit over so we can play D&D” _

[The sound of throat clearing could be heard]

_ “Um, El?” _

_ “Yes Mike?” _

“ _ Um, I can’t lose you.” _

_ “You won’t lose me.” _

“ _ Promise?” _

“ _ Promise. I will love you forever Mike.” _

“ _ I will love you forever too, El. I promise. They can play this back years from now and I’ll still mean it.” _

Mike turned to El, her face in her hands, and the ragged crying that came from her soul was almost impossible to fathom.

Tears started down Mike’s face. Dustin took out the CD, gave it to Mike. 

Max said, “I’ll take you home. Follow me in their car Dustin.”

In the back of Max’s car, Mike held El in his arms. 

Mike came to the realization, while still holding El, that Max was happy with Lucas. That door was closed. But… maybe, just maybe, a new one could be opened with El.

He didn’t know, but he was willing to find out.   
  



	5. What El Wrote

_ “I’m so lonely.” _

Once again, tears came to her eyes, she wiped the quickly. She did not want to them to fall on the the diary. And then she noticed a slight discolouration on the page, it looked like a water drop had landed there. She realized that it was a teardrop. El had been crying when she was writing those words.

_ “I’m ugly. My hair is never going to grow, I have no boobs. No boobs, no boyfriend. It doesn’t make any difference how smart I am.” _

El thought back to the ride home.

“El? Can I ask why you cut your hair?” Max had asked from the front seat.

“I didn’t cut it. It never grew longer from my years in the lab.”

“Oh.”

“Everyone said it looked cute though. I think they were just trying to make me feel better.” she gave a quick side long glance to Mike. His head was down, he looked about ready to cry again.

El continued reading the diary. She read page after page detailing how lonely she was. It was heartbreaking to read.

_ I know El.  _ She talked to the diary.  _ I’m lonely too. I have boobs and hips though.  _ El smiled to herself.  _ Mike doesn’t seem to be interested though. _

It didn’t help that when they got back into the apartment Mike said he was hungry. She cut him off and said, “You’re a grown boy, you'll figure it out. I’m going to bed.”

As soon as she went back and saw the bed she felt guilty. She gathered up some blankets and a pillow and walked back out to the living room. 

Mike was just putting some Eggos in the toaster. He had turned around to look at her. “It’s all I really know how to make.” He shrugged. “What are the blankets for?”

“I’ll make up the sofa for you.”

“You don’t have to do that El.”

“Yes I do, Mike.”

“Well, thanks. Those blankets look warm.” El at least felt a little better when he said that. 

The agonizing entries went on for a year. She had endured pages of bitter and joyless days. El had started to cry again.  _ Have I been this lonely in every universe? That’s not fair. I have a lot of love to give. _

El’s eyes widened at single entry on one page. 

_ “I met a boy today. His name is Mike.” _

El burst out crying.  _ I think I’m in love with him. How can that be? He hasn’t really shown any interest, and I’ve only known him for what? Less than twenty-four hours. _

The next page had more details.

“ _ I was sitting at a table by myself eating my lunch and he was sitting over at the table everyone knows at The Party Table. He saw me sitting alone and came over and asked if I wanted to sit with them. I don’t talk very much so I just ended up nodding. He smiled at me and I thought my heart would die. He has gorgeous eyes. I wanted to kiss him right away. But I already know, short hair, no boobs, no boyfriend. _

El felt herself pleading with the diary,  _ just tell him you love him El. He’ll know, he’ll understand. _

She stopped herself.  _ Time to admit it El. You love him. Where did it come from? Who knows, you don’t question your heart. You have probably  _ always _ loved him. _

“ _ Mike introduced me to his friends. Lucas and his girlfriend Maxine, but she goes by Max. Dustin and his girlfriend Suzie. Mike doesn’t have a girlfriend.” _

_ “I like Mike! He’s really nice to me. He said I could be in the Party. Everyone else agreed. I’m going to be the Mage. I don’t know what that means yet, but Mike said he would explain it to me.” _

_ “I don’t think Max or Lucas like me. I think that  _ they _ think I might take Mike away from them. Mike and I spend a lot of time together. I really like him! But… I know what’s going to happen if I tell him. He’ll just say that we can be friends. I want to be more than friends.” _

_ No El! Tell him! He loves you. I know he does.  _ El said to the diary. 

_ “Troy called Mike a frogface and then punched him. He really hit him hard, and I walked him home because he said he was dizzy. I held on to his arm to steady him! He asked me not to tell his mom, she’ll just go to the Principal and when Troy gets in trouble he’ll punch Mike even harder the next time. I got Mike to his basement and cleaned him up, I used some ice to keep the swelling down. He looked into my eyes the whole time. I thought I’d melt. And then he said, “You have really pretty eyes El.” And I started crying. He asked me right away what he did wrong, and I said I was ugly. He said, “No you aren’t El. You’re pretty.  _ Really _ pretty. I think I cried even harder, I said “But what about my hair?” He said, “It really brings out your eyes.”Short hair like that isn’t the worst thing if you have pretty eyes like that, El. _ ” And then I blurted it out. “But I have no boobs. Boys like boobs.” He turned really red and said, “sure, but you will get them soon, they might not be humungous, but guys like me like pretty eyes and pretty faces… you have both. And you are smart.” He wouldn’t look at me. He was still red faced.

El was screaming to herself at the diary.  _ Tell him you like him El. Just tell him!  _ She read on.

_ “I was very careful what I said next… “do you… do you like me Mike?” He wouldn’t look at me, but nodded. “Mike… look at me.” His face was still red but he looked at me. I leaned over and just went for it. I kissed him! And he kissed me back! He had the softest lips. I’ll remember that kiss for as long as I live.” _

El started crying again.  _ I’m sorry El, Mike. I don’t remember that kiss. I’m a different El. But you’re not, El.  _ She said to herself.  Y _ ou _ are_ his _ _ El! All the El’s are same. They all love or  _ will  _ love their Mike’s. Dustin practically said so.  _

_ I feel like shit. I was really bitchy to him today. Mike doesn’t deserve that. I can’t believe how hard he cried when I told everyone I’d been raised in a lab. It was that deep crying that makes you want to cry with him Maybe he  _ does _ like me. If I ever get a chance to kiss him, to  _ really _ kiss him, I’ll put my soul into it. Everything I have. I love him. I love him so much it hurts. _

She continued to read the words that she wrote in this universe.

_ I could cry again. Mike asked me to be his girlfriend! I started to cry and he asked me If he’d said anything wrong, I told him I was happy, I told him he wouldn’t be sorry he asked me. But Lucas and Max were pissed off. I don’t know what their problem is, but I don’t really like Max anymore. Mike and I have been spending more and more time alone. We kiss all the time. I absolutely  _ love _ kissing Mike. He’s a very good kisser. He said I was too, but I was the only girl he’d ever kissed, but he was pretty sure I was a good kisser.  _

El read the through the evolution of their relationship, how the love became stronger and stronger. It got very hard to read knowing that she didn’t have that with Mike, or anyone for that matter. 

She read about the first time they had sex, they were seventeen at the time. Before that, they had very heavy make-out sessions for sure, but they’d never slept together. The diary was explicit at times. Mike and El had a strong, loving relationship. They were willing to be adventurous. She read that Mike was a very considerate lover and apparently very talented at… a lot of things. El turned red while reading it.  _ Oh El, you are a saucy girl. Where did you learn that? _

El had to stop reading when she became aroused at what El had written.  _ Shit, I hate having my period when I feel this way. I can’t even throw myself at Mike right now. Even if I wanted to. _

El turned the page. A small photo fell out. It was the same one that was framed in the living room. The one that showed them happy and at peace. And in love.

El read the pages it had been trapped between.

“ _ I’m so happy. Mike asked me to marry him. After ten minutes of crying I managed to blubber out a yes. A thousand yes’s.” _

El started crying again.  _ I hate hormones _ .  _ I’m pretty sure I’d be crying anyway, but the hormones going crazy doesn’t help.” _

_ “Mike got a job fixing watches at jewelry story in the mall. It pays well enough for us to get a small apartment. “ _

El made it a point to ask Mike what kind of work he did… before.

_ “We just moved in, the apartment is perfect, maybe we’ll buy a house later, but I’m fine living here forever with Mike.” _

_ I am too.  _ El said to the diary. She looked up at the time. It was two in the morning. She hadn’t slept at all, even after being exhausted from the day’s events. But she was half asleep now that she’d finished the diary.

_ This is funny. I don’t think I can sleep unless I’m right beside him. _ Then El decided, just like her namesake in the diary to just go for it.

She went out to the living room, she could hear Mike snoring a little. She went around to the sofa, his back was up against the cushions. There was plenty of room. She got underneath the blanket with Mike and pushed herself back into him until he was spooning her.

She wasn’t sure she was half asleep when she heard it, or Mike was half awake when he said it, but the words were, “We belong together El.” His arm went around her.

She felt safe, warm, and deeply in love. 

“I know, Mike.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter that follows will be "What Mike wrote"


	6. What Mike Wrote

_ “I’m all alone.” _

Mike presses his lips together. He knew it was going to be hard to read the raw emotion that the other Mike had written down.  _ Let’s face it Mike, there is no  _ other _ Mike. There’s just me. We were all alone. All of us. But somehow we are able to find El. I know Max and I were going out, but I admit now that it was fading. I was going to be alone. _

_ “Lucas has Max, Dustin has Suzie. I mean, both are pretty girls, but not my type. I don’t even know what my type is. I guess I’ll know when I see her. Doesn’t really make any difference though. No girl is going to want to go out with the frogface. I know I look goofy. I see myself in the mirror everyday. I told mom about it, and she said I’ll just get more handsome (yeah, that was actually the word she used) as I get older. Maybe. But for now I’m the frogface. And this stupid frigging haircut isn’t helping either. Mom keeps having it straightened. I think i could talk her out of it though. No. I’m all alone.” _

Mike thought the pages of the leather journal looked like they’d been water stained, but after reading the page he realized they were tears that had fallen. He had been  _ really  _ lonely when he’d written this.

He read pages of it. It was tough to read.  _ How do you go through your teens being that lonely? I don’t know, but I did it. Maybe it’s made me appreciate the love of a girl even more. Whenever that happens. _

He thought about the ride back when Max had asked El about her hair. She’d mentioned the lab again and Mike thought he would lose it right there. He couldn’t look at her. If he did, he would have started blubbering.  _ How can anyone treat another human being that way? _ When he’d heard her story at Lucas and Max’s place- _ and that reminds me, I’ll have to ask them how they came to be in my parents old house- _ she’d been very stoic recounting her abuse there.  _ I promise you El, even if we are never together, I mean, I’m starting to think that we belong together now, that we were put here because we are soulmates, but even if we don't get together, I’ll be your friend and never treat you badly. I’ll dedicate my life to making you smile. I  _ promise. 

Even though, she’d been,  _ oh what’s the word? Bitchy. Yup, definitely bitchy, I told her I was hungry and I was going to about to do a bad western twang style accent and say I would ‘ _ rustle up some grub’ _ , but she cut me off and told me to figure it out, then left for the bedroom. It didn't bother him. It was hormones and there wasn't a lot she could do about it. _

_ If nothing else I figured out the toaster, I was surprised to find Eggos in the freezer, probably my second favourite breakfast option.  _ _ A little while later I  _ _ was putting Eggos in the toaster and heard her come out from the bedroom _ . “It’s all I really know how to make.” 

“What are the blankets for?” I asked her.

“I’ll make up the sofa for you.”  _ She looked a little sheepish, or maybe guilty. I didn’t say anything she’d had a really bad day. _

“You don’t have to do that El.”  _ _

“Yes I do, Mike.”  _ She looked very determined so I didn’t want to challenge her. _

“Well, thanks. Those blankets look warm.”  _ She gave me a little smile when I thanked her. That smile. No way to describe it really, other that it makes my heart hurt a little. Face it Mike, you want to kiss her. You could just have walked over to her and kissed her. Sure, Mike, and that would have ended any chance of getting to know her more, or be with her. _

Mike continued reading.

The painful entries went on for a year of pages. Mike had been bitterly alone. He’d become a little cynical and developed a mostly negative attitude about everything. Have I been this lonely in every universe?  _ Probably. All I know is that the girl who wants to be with me will never regret it. Sure we may have problems, every relationship does, but I promise that girl I will do everything to work things out. If that’s you, El. It’s another promise. I keep my promises. _

He was starting to get a little depressed reading all the negative things he’d written down And then one entry stood out for him, and lifted his heart.

_ “I was sitting at the Party Table today and I looked over and saw another kid sitting by himself. It looked like he was reading a dictionary, so I figured he must be a nerd. Us nerds have to stick together so I thought I’d just go over their and invite him to our table.” _

_ “I went over to his table and got the surprise of my life. It as a girl! Not just any girl. She had really pretty eyes. I don’t think I could take mine off hers the entire time. I noticed she kept her hair really short, so she was probably made fun of by all the girls in her classes. Some of the bitchiest girls you’ll ever meet are in Hawkins Middle. I think we have the highest rate of bitchy girls per capita, as our social studies teacher would say. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at me with those killer eyes and nodded. What’s really weird is that I had a sudden urge to lean over and kiss her. But I saved myself from having her laugh in my face, probably with a slap. I am the frogface after all. I started to regret asking her to the Party Table, but I did anyway.” _

_ “What can I say, I liked her right away. It seemed like she was different, maybe a little self-conscious of her looks, but I was too. I introduced her to Max and Lucas, and Dustin and Suzie. She seemed a little intimidated by how pretty Max and Suzie are, but those two have nothing on El. El, that’s her name, probably short from Eleanor or something. They all agreed she could be our Mage. She was looking around as if she expected there to be another person at the table. I don’t know what that was about.” _

_ “Me and El are hanging around a lot together. It think it’s pissing off Max and Lucas. El is always nice to me. When she smiles at me, my knees get weak. If she smiles at me and then gives me that look with her eyes (a look I haven’t figured out yet) I find it hard to get a breath of air. She’s so pretty. “ _

_ “I got crazy for a minute today and seriously thought about asking El to go out with me. Reality kicked in for me though. A girl that pretty is so  _ not _ going to go out with me. I started to rethink having her in the Party, but no way I’d change that now. Just getting to see her every day makes the days go a lot better. She’d give me that  _ we can just be friends _ line and that it. It would be all over. It would probably kill our friendship too. I’d never get to see her. Right now that’s completely unthinkable.” _

_ “Troy called me a frogface today and then punched me. He really hit me hard, rang my bell as my mom would say. I was dizzy and El walked me home. She held on to my arm! I asked her not to tell my mom, she’ll just go to the Principal and when Troy gets in trouble and he’ll punch me even harder the next time. When we got to the basement she cleaned me up. Her hands were so soft and gentle on my face, even when she some ice to keep the swelling down. I just couldn’t stop looking into her eyes the whole time. I think I was still woozy or something because I didn’t care what I said. .“You have really pretty eyes El.” She started to cry and I felt like shit. I didn’t mean to make her cry! So I asked what I did wrong, and she said she was ugly. I was shocked and immediately said, “No you aren’t El. You’re pretty.  _ _ Really pretty. She  _ _ cried even harder, and said “But what about my hair?” I told her, “It really brings out your eyes.” Which is totally true. “Short hair like that isn’t the worst thing if you have pretty eyes like that, El.” I almost didn’t hear what she said next. “But I have no boobs. Boys like boobs.” I felt my face heat up. How do you respond to something like that?, I fumbled my way through it. “Sure, but you will get them soon, they might not be humungous, but guys like me like pretty eyes and pretty faces… you have both. And you are smart guys like me, but especially me like girls who are smart..” I had to look away. NIce going Wasteoid. That’s with a capital W. Complete and utter Wastseoid. You absolutely can  _ NOT _ talk about a girl’s boobs when that very same girl is crying about them IN FRONT of you. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I figured she’ll never talk to me again after today.” _

_ “She sounded very unsure of herself, she said, “do you… do you like me Mike?” I still couldn’t look at her, but nodded. “Mike… look at me.” My face was still hot so I know it was red but I steeled myself to look at er. She kissed me! She just leaned over and KISSED me! And I kissed her back! Her lips were so soft. I’ll remember that kiss for as long as I live.” _

Mike wished he’d remembered a kiss like that. Truth be told he’d never had one like with Max. Sure he remembered the first kiss, everyone does, but it really wasn’t anything special. The journal entry let him know how special that first kiss with El was. Mike sighed to himself. He wasn’t that Mike, but he sure felt like it. With every fibre of his being.

Where he came from seemed to be half backwards, he would have a lot of new technology to tinker around with here. But none of that would be any fun without someone in his life. An El someone.

Something that Dustin had said that maybe they  _ did _ belong together. Mike hopes so. He already loved the El that this Mike had written about. The one in the other room, she looked the same, sure she was older and… Mike smiled to himself, has boobs, not humungous but boobs nonetheless.  _ Cause that’;s what it’s all about Mike? Of course not! Asshole. Besides I’m more into bums anyway. I’ve seen El’s, had to be careful there, if she saw that I’m sure she would have mentioned it. I think I almost got caught once. _

He continued to read what he’d written in this universe.

_ “Well. I did it! I asked El to be my girlfriend! She started to cry and I asked her If I’d said anything wrong, she told me she was happy, She told me I wouldn’t be sorry I asked her. But Lucas and Max were pissed off now. I don’t know what their problem is, but Max has been getting on my nerves. Me and El have been spending more and more time alone. We kiss all the time. I love kissing her . She’s a very good kisser. She said I was too, but she’s the only girl I’ve ever kissed, but I’m pretty sure she’s a good kisser. _

_ Good for you Mike, you finally grew a pair. I'm not sure I would have asked her. _

Mike read how their relationship progressed. These two were in love, and it got stronger and stronger. Mike sighed again. It was getting hard to read. El was perfect for him. She knew his moods, but he never seemed to be down anymore. She told him that she could be  _ difficult _ as Mike had written, but she would still love him.  _ Seriously.  _ Mike thought. _ What would it be like to have a girl who loved you like that. If I  _ ever _ get the chance to kiss this El. I’ll let her know she’s loved. More than she ever thought possible. That’s a promise El.  _

Mike continued reading. He more than blushed when he read about the first time He and El had sex. He wrote that the make-out sessions had been one thing, no sex was involved. Mike was almost shocked at what he’d written. He and El had done _that?_ _Well, they were seventeen and exploring the physical side of their relationship, of course they’d want to try everything. See what worked and what didn’t. _ From what Mike had read though, it _all_ worked. _ I can’t let El read this, she’ll take one look at me and say something like _‘Not a chance mister.’

_ Of course.  _ MIke smirked to himself.  _ You could always just start out with a kiss. He was more than a little turned on reading those passages. It passed, he’d have to take a cold shower later or something. He’d never be able to look at El again today if he didn’t. _

_ “I asked El to marry me today. She was so happy she cried. Shit. Now I am too. I love that girl so much, I can’t even put it into words. If you ever read this El. I love you. By now you know just how much.” _

MIke had to close the journal. Ran the back of his hand over he eyes.  _ Yeah, no way she feels that way about me. No way I could convince her that we belong together. In my heart I know it’s true. I don’t think she’s ready to accept someone that feels that deeply about her. Not after what she’s been through in her life, and even today. Losing her dad while he’s still in the room had to be devastating. Knowing the way I feel about her there’s no way I can live here. I’m going to bed. I can’t think about this anymore. _

Mike went over to the sofa thinking he’d have to sleep in his clothes, but he saw his pajamas neatly folded for him on top of a turned down corner of the blanket. It was very thoughtful of El to do that, his heart twinged a bit. She had done that for him and they weren’t even together.

He was exhausted thinking about it. He got into his pj’s and crawled under the covers. El had even fluffed the pillow for him. 

His head hit the pillow and he was out, almost instantly dreaming of her.

In the middle of the night, he felt stirring and a warm, soft body was pressed against his. It was El. She smelled fresh and feminine. He thought he said something about belonging together, he couldn‘t remember for sure, but he did remember putting an arm around her waist. 

And he remembered her backing even closer to him and saying, “I know, Mike.” He heard her sigh.

Tomorrow he would tell her. Let the chips fall where they may.

He loved her and he had to let her know. 


	7. Investigation

Mike woke up to the glorious smell of freshly brewing coffee. “You are driving me crazy with that smell.”

“Morning, Mike, I think I used to be a barista or something in another universe.”

“I believe it. I don’t think I’ve ever smelled coffee that good before. Want to tell me your secret?”

“A girl needs her secrets Mike.”

Mike got up and walked into the kitchen. “Well, good morning to  _ both _ of you!” She took a quick glance downwards at Mike.

Mike was confused at first but followed her eyes. “Shit, El, ah, sorry, I didn’t mean for  _ that _ to happen. It’s a morning thing.” He turned beet red almost instantly. He quickly covered himself, turned around and walked to the sofa to go get his housecoat.

_ Nice going wasteoid.  _

He could hear her give a low giggle and say, “Let me be first to say that was impressive. I wish my boobs were on an equal scale.”

Mike feeling completely at ease saying it, “Um, your boobs are ok, but your ass is spectacular.

_ Shit, did I just say that? _

=====

_ El maybe you should have been a bit more embarrassed seeing that. I might have except that his reaction made me feel sorry for him. But then, he said I had a nice bum. Ass, El, he said you have a nice ass. Actually he said you had a spectacular. And it sounded like he was completely comfortable saying it. _

He came back out to the kitchen, avoiding her eyes. He looked over at the table. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s a diary?”

_ Yes, and it told me something I already know. It told me how much I love you. How much we loved each other. I’m not so sure about that now. _

“Did you find the key, was it hidden?”

“No, it was in the diary.”

“You know what that tells me?”

“Yes. That I trusted you either to not read it, or that there were no secrets in it you didn’t already know.”

She saw Mike nod. “I see you’ve been reading your leather journal. It wasn’t hidden either.”

“No, probably for the same reason,” Mike shrugged, you can read it if you want to.”

Mike turned red again, and quickly put his hand over the book holding it to the table when she reached for it. “Uh… Um… Uh, there are some passages in there that um, I might be a little um, embarrassed if you read them.”

“Let me guess, there’s a description of the first time we had sex. Of everything we did.”

She purposely said  _ we _ instead of  _ them.  _

“Um, uh, yeah, and it’s um, detailed. Um, very detailed.”

“It’s ok Mike, mine had the same thing. Right down to smells and tastes.”

Mike would  _ not _ look at her. She thought his face had now blended to an intense shade of purple. She was smiling and keeping her voice light and level, but she was a little turned on.

_ El,  _ that’s _ definitely not going to happen right now. _

“Do you want me to make you some breakfast, I can cook way better than making Eggos for you.”

“Um.”

“Please Mike, it’s ok.”

=====

_ I am never going to be able to look at her again. When she said smells and tastes, he knew that her reading that in her diary had been just as steamy as his had. _

They sat eating bacon and eggs at the breakfast nook. “Thanks, El. I was starved. All I had yesterday was the Eggos. I don’t think you had anything to eat at all?”

“I didn’t really feel like it. I lose my appetite on emotional days.”

“How do you feel today?”

“I’m done.”

“Done?”

“With my cycle, Mike.”

He felt his face flush again.

“What’s your plan for the day?”

“You’ve heard of Maslow?”

“His  _ Hierarchy of Needs.  _ Yes. We already have the bottom layer.” She looked around. “Food, Shelter, etc.”

“Yes, but we don’t have those for free. I’ve taken a look at a leather bag I have, and it seems like I repair watches or something.” El nodded, “I read that in my diary. What was it you did… where you came from.”

“Exact same thing. So at least the universe decided not to screw me too badly. But, I’d like to know why nobody has wondered why I’m not at work.”

“Good question.” El said looking a little worried. “Is that it?”

Mike continued avoiding her eyes. Something he found very hard to do because he felt at peace when he looked into them.

“I, uh, want us to go to the police station.” It was El’s turn to avoid eyes. “The county clerk’s office is there too. I’m taking our marriage certificate, and documentation, to see if it’s all legitimate.”

He saw El’s head hang low and in a voice he barely heard, she said, “Why, Mike.”

=====

_ This is it, he wants an annulment or divorce. Why? So he doesn’t have to be with me. One of us is going to have to move out.  _

“You said your name was El Hopper. But the paperwork all says Jane Ives.”

She shrugged, she didn’t know any Jane Ives. But she’d looked at all her ID, and that’s who it said she was.  _ But I’m El Hopper. _

She decided to blurt it out. “You want out of the legal part of the relationship.”

Mike did something she was not expecting. Not at all.

He clamped his hand over his eyes. His face grimaced, and then he put his other hand over his mouth. She could see his voice was hitching, he’s started to cry the tears literally spraying from between his fingers. He was crying even harder than he had yesterday when she told her lab story.

_ Oh. His heart is breaking. What did I say? _

“Mike?” 

He was hyperventilating. She got up from the table and ran around to him. She threw her arms around him. “Mike! Please don’t cry.”

“Can’t help it.” He said. 

_ This was it. He wants to end it but doesn’t want to hurt my feelings and it’s really bothering him. I should be crying with him, I need to be with him. I need to be with him because I love him. _

“What is it Mike?”  _ Force it out of him. Make him  _ say _ it. _

Suddenly his voice calmed down. He hadn’t really looked at her since the morning wood incident. But this time he did. His eyes bored into her soul. She could not look away from his all consuming gaze. 

“I love you El. I don’t want us to be apart. Neither of us have anyone here, sure we have our friends but-”

“But it’s not the same.” She finished for him, she watched his slow acknowledging nod.

“If you don’t feel the same way, I understand. I knew it would be a possibility, but I had to tell you.”

“What about Max? You don’t want to try and get back to her?”

“No... Max and I had a relationship of lonely convenience. We went to movies, hung out, but I went with her for maybe five years? I can count on one hand the number of times we kissed. Even then I think she did it because she felt sorry for me.”

_ Max is turning out to be a bit of a cold bitch. She never treated Mike right where he came from, and it seems that she doesn’t like or even believe us here. _

=====

_ There. I said it. I told El I loved her.  _ He frowned, well she didn’t say it back, so I guess I know where I stand.

He was startled to hear the intensity of her next words. “I don’t feel like it’s… it’s  _ enough _ to say that I love you Mike. I don’t. But I’m yours. Our souls belong together. I would do anything for you. I would die for you Mike. I’m sure in another universe I have. If you want to be together, then it’s done we are  _ together.  _ I don’t care what some stupid legal paperwork says.”

=====

After she said that, he got a very determined look on his face. “Get dressed. We are going there now.”

_ We love each other. We both know it now. We can do this. We can stay in this world and be happy knowing that. _

XXXXX

“You ok El? Yesterday you looked a little, ah, no quite you.” Hopper looked at the two of them holding hands and smiled.

“I had a few shocks yesterday.”

“Henderson came by and asked why you were crying so hard after I dropped you off. You know I’ve thought of you as my daughter since everything you did for Sara. You visited her in the hospital the first day she was in there, and  _ every _ day afterwards. You shaved your head when hers had to be. You  _ still _ do that but neither Sara or I can figure out why. It’s ok, a girl is allowed to have her secrets. You and Sara are more than best friends, you are like sisters. It took a lot of pulling of strings to become your foster parent, but I don’t regret that at all. Neither does Sara, it was like a dream come true for her. I’ve told you before, I think it was your love that saved her. She was scared of leaving you… alone if she was… gone. Doctors said it was one of those recoveries that can’t be explained. That it was not even worth the effort to try and find out. Seeing you yesterday, you looked like you didn’t even recognize me, that hurt a little. Today I see you much happier, I can only assume Mike is the cause of that. Two of the best days of my life were knowing I could legally take care of you, and knowing that someone loved you as much as I did and loved you for who you were. Damaged goods or not,  _ everyone _ knows how much in love you two are.”

“Oh dad.” It was all El managed to get out, before being completely incoherent. She ran to him, hugged his middle, she pressed her tear soaked face into his shirt. He kissed the top of her head.

Mike looked down, trying to be respectful of this display of affection. El had her dad back. Some weird twist in reality or luck. It didn’t make any difference. 

They stood like that for a few minutes.

“Sara was worried. You haven’t talked to her in a few days. Can you stop by the cabin?”

El stood back, smiling at Hopper through her tears.

“Ok, what can I do for you guys, I mean, great visit but we could have done this at the cabin. Sara is really worried.”

El turned to Mike, “Mike?”

Mike held up the folder containing all paperwork. “Everything here references Jane Ives. El doesn’t even know who that is.”

“I knew this would come back to bother you. We, uh, head to do it. Part of the string pulling I was talking about.”

He went over to a safe in the corner of the room. Spun the combination dial, opened it and pulled out an identical folder. He handed it to El.

“This looks the same?” She looked up at her dad, her cheeks still wet with tears.

“The difference is your name is El Hopper, this is all your ID, real marriage certificate, everything.”

“You are older now, they can’t take you away from me.” Hopper cleared his throat and turned away. “So,” his voice sounded a little high pitched. “You can have this now, I know you didn’t want to hide it, but we had to.”

“Are you going to tell me why?” El said, curious.

“No. Too much bad shit has happened to you. You are my legally adopted daughter, Sara’s best friend and sister, and you have someone who loves you and would die for you. My wishlist is complete. I hope yours is too.”

XXXXX

  
  


“Can you believe that just happened?” El said as Mike drove to the mall.

“I’m so happy for you El. You seem to have your dad back. It was a little surreal listening to him. I almost started crying I was so happy for you.”

El was silent.  _ I don’t think you are magically going to have a your little sister back, Mike. _

“I’m sorry Mike.”

He looked took a quick look at her. “I know what you are thinking. I don’t have Holly anymore. But I have you and-” Mike stopped talking.

_ I’m sorry Mike, I didn’t want to make you cry. Not again. _

“I have you.” He repeated.

“Yes you do Mike. And you have me forever. We have double sets of paperwork to prove it regardless of my name.”

Mike laughed. “Can you imagine the look on your dad’s face if you told him about the lab?”

“He seems a little less gruffer than he used to be.”

“He loves his daughters. I would say equally going by how he talked about you two.”

“He lost Sara where I came from. He was destroyed. Warning Mike, I’m going to cry really hard when I see her.”

“It’s ok. El. You always have someone to hug. Three someone’s now.”

_ Yes! This morning I was lost. It’s almost like I just had to wait for universal alignment or something. _

“Mike, I love you.”

“More than anything, El. I love you more than anything.” He gave her a deep sigh. “Let’s go see if I still have a job.”

XXXXX

“Get outta here Wheeler!”

_ Shit. I was afraid of this. Guess I don’t work here anymore. _

“You’re on vacation, I don’t care if you and your wife shop in the mall, but don’t come to where you work. I’ll see you in a week or so. Although…”

“What is it sir?”

“Well, first off, how many times have I told you to call me Don. You are almost like a son to me. Melvald’s Jewelers would be nothing without you. I’m having a problem with this watch.”

“Mainspring too tight?”

“Yes, but I can’t seem to spring it. I promised it for a wedding anniversary. Should never have done it when you are on vacation. My hands aren’t what they used to be.

“Let me take a look… Don.”

“That’s better Wheeler.”

Mike took a look through a jeweler's loupe. 

“Ah I see. Don, you really should  put the mainspring tool onto the key post arbor and of course you gently releasethe click that holds the mainspring wound up. ”

“Shit. You are a lifesaver. You really are. You are getting a raise.”

=====

El beamed.  _ He fixed the watch in what looked like ten seconds. And he got a raise? Mike was really liked. _

_ And he was really loved.  _

_ By me. _

They walked through the mall. Mike turned to her. “Um, El?” He said. “My Maslow hierarchy needs are fulfilled. Completely. Let’s make sure yours are.”

=====

  
  


El waggled her eyebrows at him. “Only one thing left for me, Mike.”

“Oh?”

She didn’t want to say it out loud in the mall. So she tiptoed and whispered in to his ear.

As expected he turned red.  _ He’s such a gentleman. _

“Uh.”

“Yes, MIke. Uh. Take me home and take me to bed.”

“Uh.”

El giggled.


	8. The New Normal

El stopped giggling. Her eyes went a little wide. “Mike, wait right here. I’ll be right back.”

_ Shit. I hate when this happens.  _ Her period was not done with her yet. She walked quickly and carefully to the bathrooms.

When she got there she was confused, there was a hall full of bathrooms, five on one side and five on the other. Every one of them had a strange symbol on it that she didn’t recoqnize.

She walked into one. She found that it was a single bathroom with a lockable door.  _ Must be unisex or something.  _ El thought to herself.  _ And speaking of sex, none of that tonight. I hope Mike isn’t too disappointed. _

She dealt with her emergency, and left the washroom to get back to wear he was. He hadn’t moved from the spot he was standing, that put a smile on his face until he saw a beautiful blonde girl run up to him hugging him and kissing him on his cheek. She stepped back smiling at him her arms still holding on to his.

_ Who is that? _

The blonde girl looked at her, and her smile got even bigger. “El!” The girl ran to her and gave her a crushing hug.

“Where have you two been? I was worried sick. Dad said you’d stop by the cabin, but when you didn’t show I got worried and came into town. You know how he worries about his girls.”

_ It’s Sara.  _ That’s all El could think before she the heavy sobs started. She was so happy that her dad had her daughter back, and now she not only had her dad back, but she had a sister too.

Sara stepped back, looking scared, “El? You ok? Dad said you were acting a little weird yesterday. Sister’s don’t lie El, you  _ have _ to tell me what’s going on. You know we don’t keep secrets from each other.”

“This one is kind of a doozy… Sara… but I need to tell someone who I know will believe me other than Mike

  
  


XXXXX

“Sara, are you still into space and all that kind of stuff?”

Sara looked at her with a sarcastic expression. “I’m an astrophysicist, of  _ course _ I’m into all that  _ stuff. _ You are kind of scaring me now, what’s going on.”

“Mike you go first,” El said.

Mike explained his world of technology, or lack thereof. “I used to think I was smart with gadgets and all that, not quite like Dustin, but I had a knack. I went into fixing watches.”

“You still do that now.” Sara said carefully.

“Yeah, I can’t figure out why that’s not different. Until a few hours ago I had no idea what a digital watch was. Or what a digital  _ anything _ was.”

“Ok, El, what’s your story? I’m sure it’s not as totally out there as Mike’s is.”

XXXXX

Just as Mike had, Sara started to cry when she heard how bad it was for El. She came over to hug her on the sofa, and wouldn’t let go for the longest time. El continued talking while still hugging her.

“So we weren’t sisters? Or even friends?” Sara said, “I can’t imagine a universe without you El.” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

“You were… gone.”

Sara shook her head, “Poor dad. He must have been devastated… but you? You were his second chance.”

El nodded, and started to cry herself. “And then I lost him, thinking he was dead. That was even worse than being in the Upside Down.”

Both girls hugged and cried. “But now it’s like the universe is completely re-aligning itself to make sure that I’m happy. After all I went through. It’s overwhelming how good the last day has been.”

“Ok, wait a minute, wait a minute. You aren’t telekinetic  _ here _ are you?”

El smiled, and brought a cup of coffee to her hands.

“Holy Shit!”

“That’s what Dustin said.” Mike laughed.

Suddenly Sara was solemn. She looked down. “Neither of you knew each other where you came from. But here you are married and kind of the talk of town. You are never seen apart… well I could go on but I’m sure you’ve heard all this already from the Party. What about... what about _here?_”

El said, “Mike and I... love each other. We are still... experiencing it... I knew you wouldn’t question anything I said, but speaking of the Party, how come you aren’t in it?”

“I’ll remind you. Seeing as your new here.” 

El giggled. “Ok, remind me.”

“Max is a bitch. She’s always been a bitch. She treated you like a friend when it was convenient. She didn’t believe you did she? No idea why Lucas puts up with her. Probably because she… ok, well, now it’s me being bitchy. Sorry Mike. Only El really sees this side of me.”

Mike laughed. “It’s ok Sara tell us how you really feel.”

“Back to what I was saying… you two?”

El looked down and could see that Mike did also.

“I was going to say… it’s complicated.” He looked at El. “But, El. it’s not complicated for me at all. I heard my voice on that z-d thing. I know how I felt then. I know how I feel now.”

“I feel it too Mike. My voice was also on that cd.”

“Sorry, Sara. I think El and I have been reluctant to let our feelings out. Not knowing how the other felt. But I don’t care anymore. I love El Hopper. Who it turns out is actually El Wheeler.”

El was nodding vigorously. “I’m glad we didn’t waste too much time getting to this point. Sara, I feel such a strong connection to Mike. I knew I loved him the second I saw him.”

“But,” Sara said to Mike, “You had to get over Max first.”

Mike dropped his eyes. “Such as our relationship was. I’m beginning to think Max is not a nice person in any universe. She uses people. I mean, I know she had a shitty childhood, but so did El, and she turned out like… like...”

“Like your soulmate, Mike... I turned out like your soulmate.” El hugged his middle. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Ok, you two really shouldn’t be out on your own. You need a crash course on the new normal for you guys. Will can help with that he’s an anthropologist.”

“Will?” Mike looked at El.

“You know him?”

“If it’s Will Byers you are talking about where I came from he was my best friend.”

“So you know he’s kind of quiet… and sensitive.”

“That would be why you two are perfect for each other.” El said. “How come the Party didn’t know about him.”

“Because I didn’t tell them.“

“You guys are going to get to know each other all over again. That’s a gift. Enjoy the experience.” Mike shook his head. “I never pictured Will as an anthropologist.”

“He’ll be back from Mirkwood any day now.”

Mike laughed. “Did you say Mirkwood?”

“You had a Mirkwood where you came from?”

“No, it was from a book,  _ The Hobbit,  _ that had characters that were also in  _ Lord of the Rings.” _

“Never heard of it. Will and I read a lot, so must be only where you are from.”

"I had it too,” El said. “I read it when Dustin begged me to. It’s too bad, Sara, it’s quite a story. I’m sure between Mike and I we could tell you the whole story.”

“That sounds like a fun evening. Um, Sara, we should really get going. El and I have a lot to talk about.”

“You also have homework, El used to read dictionaries, but  _ both _ you are going to read your encyclopedia set. Start from the A’s skip all the stuff that’s the same to both of you.”

XXXXX

“Aunt Flo is still visiting Mike. So no hanky panky, but we can still sleep in the same bed?”

“You have an aunt that’s going to be staying with us? Wait what to you mean  _ still.” _

El laughed. “Ok, I need to tell you how a woman’s body works.”

Mike blushed, “Sorry El.”

“No it’s me that’s sorry, Mike. There are going to be all kinds of idioms from where we come from that neither of us know. And here?” She looked around, “We are both lost, and we are both found.”

XXXXX

“ _ I can face anything as long as it’s with El. I finally found someone who loves me.” _ Mike wrote for this first entry in a brand new leather journal.

XXXXX

“ _ I can face anything as long as it’s with Mike. I’ve wanted to be loved like this for a long time.”  _ El started a new chapter and page in the diary.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“So no hanky panky. I’ll wait. What do you want to do tonight.”

“We’ll watch TV.” El said, maybe we’ll get some insight to the way this world works."

“What’s a TV?”

“I forgot, you came from Prehistoric World. Did they have fire or the wheel where you came from?”

“Uh, El, what’s a wheel?”

Her eyes went wide, “Are you…” then she saw Mike burst out laughing.

“Ooh, funny boy. You get that one for free. I sure hope the Boy Who Cried Wolf was a children’s story where you’re from.”

Mike held up his hands. “Ok, Ok, I give. Yes it was. I won’t do it again. I won’t do it because I want us to have total faith in what we say to each other. Friends Don’t Lie. I will never lie to you, not even as a joke. So have you heard the one about the girl from The Upside Down who met the guy from Prehistoric World?”

“You know, I  _ have  _ heard that story. Just the beginning though. I heard it’s going to have a happy ending.”

“Yes it will El. I promise.”

El snuggled up to him. She figured out how to use the remote because Mike had no clue what it even was.

“Hmm, I control the remote. This world is going to be perfect.”


End file.
